Punjab Chief Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif has said that every one has witnessed the wicked role played by the elite in the country during the last 70 years. He said that the three marshal laws devastated and derailed the country while politicians also made blunders in the past and added corruption and incompetence have jolted the very foundations of society. He stressed, "It is of no use to cry over spilt milk, we should learn from past mistakes and move on."
He expressed these views while addressing the inaugural session of Punjab Economic Forum 2017 at a local hotel on Monday. The chief minister said we should work to provide relief to the people by adopting the principles of honesty, dedication and handwork. He said Pakistani nation is a hardworking, brave and determined nation; we have qualified professionals in every field. He invited the audience to analyse mistakes of the past and learn from those mistakes, work for the better future of Pakistan, bring the country to the international arena and try to make it a stable and steady nation. Former governor State Bank Dr Ishrat Hussain and other related experts also addressed the forum. On this occasion, the Chief Minister congratulated Provincial Minister for Planning and Development, Chairmen Planning & Development, and administrators and lauded their efforts for arranging such an organised event.
The chief minister said before 1979 per capita income of Pakistan was higher than that of china and Pakistan was well placed and ahead of China economically. He said now China has become the biggest economic power in the world and even Bangladesh is ahead of us. He expressed hope that Pakistan can still move ahead and progress despite all the happenings in the past.
He said in 2007 the then dictator Musharraf raised the slogan of Pakistan First but deceived the nation; he laid the foundation stone of Diamir Basha Dam, almost 4000 MW electricity was to be generated through this project but the dictator cheated the nation and did no ground work, did not even acquire the land for the project and neglected an important project.
The Chief Minister said that the government of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has now purchased land for this project with Rs 66 billion; similarly, during the dictator era, the contract for the exploration of the iron ore reserves of Chiniot was given to a company which had no experience in exploration. He said that when PML-N rose to power, the case for the contract of the exploration of iron ore was taken to court and was won after three years.
He said that PML-N government has got 100 percent estimate of Chiniot reserves and billions of rupees annually can be earned through export without utilising iron ore. Similarly, he said there are Reko Diq reserves in Balochistan but unfortunately the people of the province could not benefit from it. He said the wealth discovered in Balochistan had to be utilised for the progress and prosperity of the country but unfortunately corruption, inefficiency and negligence ruined this multibillion rupees project; proper human resource is necessary for exploiting such projects for the betterment of the nation.